Tail light question

[Jason Brinkmeyer]

So I did this on my Dakota and they called it the big 4 upgrade. I want my brake light and turn signals to work both bulbs in my tail lights. Is this possible or just a aftermarket tail light option for a full light tail light. My searches only got me tail light issues of blinkers and such not working. Oh and I'm a late 3rd gen 5.9l 2006.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Disclaimer: Make sure its legal/safe etc... before you go listening to anything I say.

In the StarScan Vehicle Prep tab, there is an option for ‘Combined Rear Taillights’ that you can enable/disable. The 07 and 08 1500s had the bubble tails that used a combined stop/turn light sort of like you described. The option was also used for putting aftermarket/utility beds on the trucks.

(I believe you can also use AlfaOBD to change the option if you dislike dealers as much as many among us do.)

No promises if flipping that option will do what you want it to or just throw codes, idk. Just a thought. Maybe someone else can chime in that would know better than I.

Good luck.

 

[Fishstickz]

Not many people seem to use Alfa with the 3rd gens. It's definitely not as useful on the 3rd gens as the 4th gens but theres still some neat options in there

Anyways, I have a 2006 and I'd also kinda like to do the same to my taillights (Big 4 upgrade? Cool name lol) I see the option Puff is talking about in AlfaOBD so I'll try turning it on later tonight and seeing what happens

 

[HemiLonestar]

I wish one of you was closer, I like doing new stuff with my StarScan just to see what it can do with different vehicles. I've pretty much figured out everything I can do with a 1st gen LX; best feature was enabling fogs to stay on with high beams. No one I know has a CAN bus 3rd gen to play with lol.

 

[Fishstickz]

So I changed the setting in AlfaOBD and it didn't work as intended. I'm not 100% sure but I think it might've somehow changed my brake lights cuz I don't know if they weren't working on the drive home lol. But the most important thing is that the taillights were still acting the same

I have a grounding issue with my taillights which is why I'm not sure if it was the Alfa setting or not but either way I'll have to look into it

I wish one of you was closer, I like doing new stuff with my StarScan just to see what it can do with different vehicles. I've pretty much figured out everything I can do with a 1st gen LX; best feature was enabling fogs to stay on with high beams. No one I know has a CAN bus 3rd gen to play with lol.

Lol I'd love to get my truck hooked up to one of those but I don't think it'd be cost effective to drive all the way up to the northeast in my 15-MPG guzzler

The dealer I took my truck to couldn't even put in a different tire size lol

 

[HemiLonestar]

The dealer I took my truck to couldn't even put in a different tire size lol

Dealers can't. In my truck (03, PCI bus) I can change the pinion factor with my DRBIII (my tuner does this as well). In CAN bus vehicles (ran into this on my Charger) it's part of the configuration file; dealers literally CAN'T change that with the software they have. Found this out the hard way when I was mucking about trying to change the config file (ironically for tire size lol) and found I couldn't and screwed up the file (no autostick, any features that ran through the cluster were gone lol)....had to take it in to get it restored as the StarScan is no longer supported for flash programming lol. You need different soft/hardware, even as simple as a tuner.

 

[Fishstickz]

Dealers can't. In my truck (03, PCI bus) I can change the pinion factor with my DRBIII (my tuner does this as well). In CAN bus vehicles (ran into this on my Charger) it's part of the configuration file; dealers literally CAN'T change that with the software they have. Found this out the hard way when I was mucking about trying to change the config file (ironically for tire size lol) and found I couldn't and screwed up the file (no autostick, any features that ran through the cluster were gone lol)....had to take it in to get it restored as the StarScan is no longer supported for flash programming lol. You need different soft/hardware, even as simple as a tuner.

It’s nuts that a little $300-dollar tuner can change the tire size but a $2000+ dealer-grade computer can’t. The guy at one dealer said that chrysler/FCA discontinued the starscan, and if it can’t even change the tire size I can’t blame em lol

If I can find a way in Alfa to change the tire size all my prayers will have been answered


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[justin13703]

I wish one of you was closer, I like doing new stuff with my StarScan just to see what it can do with different vehicles. I've pretty much figured out everything I can do with a 1st gen LX; best feature was enabling fogs to stay on with high beams. No one I know has a CAN bus 3rd gen to play with lol.

Where are you at in MD? Lol

 

[HemiLonestar]

Where are you at in MD? Lol

Chase

 

[justin13703]

Chase

About an hour and a half from me. I’m in Hagerstown

 

[HemiLonestar]

Yep, ain't been out that way in about 3yrs on a road trip to and back from Indy...in the snow no less lol

 

[Fishstickz]

I figure I'd go on and post some of my findings here

Comparing 2006 tail light wiring to 2008, all the wiring and electronics are identical except there is no "brake lamp switch output" wire on the 08's. Otherwise everything is identical. Pins, connectors, TIPM pin number, everything.

Also, the wiring for a 2006 chassis cab is the same as the 08's (no brake lamp switch output wire) so it's all most likely handled inside the computer

It's probably a shot in the dark but I'm gonna look into the "Combined rear lighting" option in AlfaOBD and see if I can get it to work. A mistake I made before is that I was looking at both outputs when I should've been just looking at the turn signal lamps. If those start showing brake lights, it works perfectly

Even if all this turns out to be true, this would probably be a 2006-only thing. I'm guessing the wiring for 02-05's are similar, but changing the settings in the truck's computer is a whole different story